The Raptors, the only NBA team in Canada, should carry the same level of cross-country appeal as the Toronto Blue Jays, the only Canadian Major League Baseball team, he said. Much like Toronto FC, the Raptors’ mediocrity has eroded fan support.

“We need to be a lot better than we are right now, because right now we’re not very good,” Leiweke said. “We have 35 million people that are our audience. We own Canada, it is our home, our territory and our region and we have to act like it.”

“I’m not even sure we deserve Toronto,” he said.

Leiweke hired Masai Ujiri, the NBA’s reigning executive of the year for his work with the Denver Nuggets, to run the Raptors after firing Bryan Colangelo in June.

“I didn’t get along with the GM of the basketball team, so we brought in somebody who sees the world the same way I do,” Leiweke said.

Next year’s NBA draft is going to have many good players the Raptors may be interested in to build up a team over time.

The owners “are very aware that we may ultimately have to, excuse my English, suck to be good,” he said. “They understand they’re going to have to be patient there.”

Wow. No holds barred interview. Very uncommon in today's sports world to see such direct quotes. Great, great, great find magoon.

In addition to magoon's selected quote, I found this interesting.....

“If the teams were doing well, I wouldn’t have come,” Leiweke, 56, said in Bloomberg’s Toronto office. “What intrigued me the most is the opportunity to have an organization here that can aspire to be much more successful and a greater brand than it currently is.”

...... not hard to tell the man is driven, up for a challenge, and appears to have either a massive or a miniscule dong - lol.

I wonder what his bonus will be if he succeeds:

“Our owners know we’ve got to be patient and stop knee- jerking like we have in the past,” he said.

In return he’s pledged to double the value of Maple Leaf Sports in the next five to seven years.

“Winning does a lot of that, 30 percent minimum comes just from winning,” he said.

Tough love:

Leiweke, who stresses the importance of patience as a means to building long-term success, saw upside in that stinging loss, calling it “the best thing that could have happened to” the Leafs.

“I think they need a few ass-kickings, and that’s one that will stay with them for a long time,” he said of the players. “I think it will pay huge dividends in the long term no matter how painful it was.”

Not sure the comments were needed on Colangelo but nice to know what most speculated was legit. I also liked how Ujiri had kept his cards close to his chest. For all the talk on not seeing the world the same way BC did, he took a page out of BC's playbook with letting everyone know his thoughts. Then again it could all be spin to get other teams to make some real offers. Who knows. Taking it as face value not all his comments were necessary or helpful in my opinion..... but I do love the comments. I'm up for anything as long as status quo is not an option long term.

I do like the soundbytes from tim interviews but he xomes off as a huge prick to me and a bit vindictive. Reminds me of the guys from office space who enjoy firing people. Too bad no one in management is named michael bolton.

this is a dude who has a clear vision of what he wants and is uppercutting every naysayer on the way to achieving it. i love it. he's walking the line between supreme confidence and being a prick and holy shiiiiiiiiit this is what toronto has needed for the longest time. i love that someone is in charge that isn't afraid to give it all a honest assessment and is willing to take the time to build it all properly.

also,

“I didn’t get along with the GM of the basketball team, so we brought in somebody who sees the world the same way I do,” Leiweke said.

absolutely KILLED me. good for him. TL is going hard in the paint, throwing elbows at everyone. this shit gets me riled up.

this is a dude who has a clear vision of what he wants and is uppercutting every naysayer on the way to achieving it. i love it. he's walking the line between supreme confidence and being a prick and holy shiiiiiiiiit this is what toronto has needed for the longest time. i love that someone is in charge that isn't afraid to give it all a honest assessment and is willing to take the time to build it all properly.

also,

absolutely KILLED me. good for him. TL is going hard in the paint, throwing elbows at everyone. this shit gets me riled up.

this is a dude who has a clear vision of what he wants and is uppercutting every naysayer on the way to achieving it. i love it. he's walking the line between supreme confidence and being a prick and holy shiiiiiiiiit this is what toronto has needed for the longest time. i love that someone is in charge that isn't afraid to give it all a honest assessment and is willing to take the time to build it all properly.

also,

absolutely KILLED me. good for him. TL is going hard in the paint, throwing elbows at everyone. this shit gets me riled up.

this is a dude who has a clear vision of what he wants and is uppercutting every naysayer on the way to achieving it. i love it. he's walking the line between supreme confidence and being a prick and holy shiiiiiiiiit this is what toronto has needed for the longest time. i love that someone is in charge that isn't afraid to give it all a honest assessment and is willing to take the time to build it all properly.

also,

absolutely KILLED me. good for him. TL is going hard in the paint, throwing elbows at everyone. this shit gets me riled up.

while we're at it, here's what casey had to say
“I’m going to coach the way that fits our team and it’s going to be defence-first,” he said.
“Bryan and I communicated . . . we didn’t agree on style of play, but that’s life. That doesn’t mean that’s bad. I’ve been with a lot of general managers and head coaches who didn’t agree on the way you should play. Winning cures a lot of things and Bryan had the right to say, ‘hey, we should try this.’"

the part at the end about wanting to take down all the picks of the '67 (well, '62) leafs at the acc to make the current team feel like they own the place. he's taking a flamethrower to the place

Honestly I don't care about the Leafs or hockey but I interpreted it to me he doesn't want daily reminders about how they have not won in nearly 50 years. Instead of looking at pictures from 1962, lets get some from 2014 onwards. Lets look at yourself as a sign of greatness and a champion.

while we're at it, here's what casey had to say
“I’m going to coach the way that fits our team and it’s going to be defence-first,” he said.
“Bryan and I communicated . . . we didn’t agree on style of play, but that’s life. That doesn’t mean that’s bad. I’ve been with a lot of general managers and head coaches who didn’t agree on the way you should play. Winning cures a lot of things and Bryan had the right to say, ‘hey, we should try this.’"

I feel like the more I read the more disbelief I have as to how completely incompetent BC was/is. The man knows how to draft and that really seems like that's all. If you really wanted to play up tempo and push the pace why the fuck would you hire Dwayne Casey as a basketball coach? Hire someone who fits your vision ffs! I can't wait to see hard nosed, smash mouth Casey ball this year. He took a team with almost no talent to 12th in the league defensively in his first year. I can't wait to see what he will do now.

Honestly I don't care about the Leafs or hockey but I interpreted it to me he doesn't want daily reminders about how they have not won in nearly 50 years. Instead of looking at pictures from 1962, lets get some from 2014 onwards. Lets look at yourself as a sign of greatness and a champion.

Just my interpretation.

No, I took it as take down everything. Like bare the walls. This is your legacy.. Bare walls, now go out and change that!

If Your Uncle Jack Helped You Off An Elephant, Would You Help Your Uncle Jack Off An Elephant?

Sometimes, I like to buy a book on CD and listen to it, while reading music.

I feel like the more I read the more disbelief I have as to how completely incompetent BC was/is. The man knows how to draft and that really seems like that's all. If you really wanted to play up tempo and push the pace why the fuck would you hire Dwayne Casey as a basketball coach? Hire someone who fits your vision ffs! I can't wait to see hard nosed, smash mouth Casey ball this year. He took a team with almost no talent to 12th in the league defensively in his first year. I can't wait to see what he will do now.

I don't think Colangelo was incompetent at all. It was the ownership and the environment, it swallowed him and I think he was committed to helping the team, he just got swallowed in this environment of suckage and lost his vision..

If Your Uncle Jack Helped You Off An Elephant, Would You Help Your Uncle Jack Off An Elephant?

Sometimes, I like to buy a book on CD and listen to it, while reading music.